Puccini Unfinished Opera | Hearing hearts in an unfinished opera - tribunedigital-baltimoresun Hearing hearts in an unfinished opera Though death cut short Puccini's final masterpiece, 'Turandot' shows his brilliance. Classical Music June 03, 2001|By Tim Smith | Tim Smith,Sun Music Critic About eight months before his death in 1924, Giacomo Puccini made an unsettling prediction concerning the project he was working on -- an opera called "Turandot," about a Chinese princess who plays a wicked variation on "The Dating Game." "My opera will be given incomplete," Puccini said, "and then someone will come onstage and say to the public, 'At this point the composer died.' " On the night of April 25, 1926, at the world premiere of "Turandot" at Milan's famed La Scala, conductor Arturo Toscanini stopped the performance about midway through the third act, turned to the audience and said: "Here the opera ends, because at this point the Maestro died." And the curtain came down.

Puccini's swan song was performed again two nights later, this time with an ending fashioned by another composer, and has remained in the repertoire ever since. It has been especially prominent in recent years, thanks perhaps to a surge in the popularity of its big tenor aria, "Nessun dorma" (the traditional standing-O generator at concerts by "The Three Tenors"). But opinions about the opera's worth vary widely. "Turandot," which the Baltimore Opera Company presents this month, is dismissed by some as high kitsch, an embarrassing case of over-the-top chinoiserie. Others find the plot silly (gee, imagine that -- an opera with a silly plot) or just unattractive. Still others consider the work fatally, irredeemably flawed, and believe only Puccini could have saved it with a more persuasive finale. The rest of us thrill to every minute of the thing.

Melodies, some of them based on authentic Chinese music, that can soar and pierce; harmonies that have remarkable richness and piquancy, even dissonance; an enormous amount of brilliant choral writing, unlike anything in other Puccini operas; sumptuous orchestration, punctuated by percussive effects, also unlike anything in other Puccini operas; and a story, adapted from an 18th-century Italian fairy-tale play, that has a delicious combination of fantasy, evil, sentiment, poignancy and dark humor. The final moments No question, the premature death of the composer hurt the opera. Not that the plot would have changed much; it was already pretty much set before he died. In the denouement, Turandot, the ultimate man-hater, is so shaken by the self-sacrificing suicide of a slave girl for the love for a man that she begins to come out of her icy shell and fall for that same man, the Unknown Prince, Calaf. Puccini had high aspirations for this final scene between Turandot and Calaf. "It must be a great duet," he wrote to his librettists.

"These two almost superhuman beings descend through love to the level of mankind, and this love must at the end take possession of the whole stage in a great orchestral peroration." There's every reason to believe that Puccini would have come up with something indelible for that duet had he lived, something that would have helped the scared princess and the determined prince transcend the limitations of fairy tale and teach us something fresh about the power of love. As it is, the death of the poor slave girl, Liu, does not generate nearly enough remorse from either Turandot and Calaf, who are equally to blame for it. Liu has devoted herself to Calaf's blind father, Timur, a deposed king, while Calaf seems pretty much indifferent to the man. When Calaf asks her why she has been so loyal to his father, she answers, "Because one day you smiled at me." But Calaf has no time for spoony slave girls, because he is soon smitten by the enigmatic, sadistic Princess Turandot. She forces would-be suitors to answer three riddles; when they can't (and none of them ever has), they get beheaded.

Calaf, of course, aces the test, but agrees to forfeit his noggin anyway if Turandot can learn his name by the next dawn. This she attempts to do by torturing Liu, who takes her own life rather than snitch. No sooner is Liu's body removed from the stage, with the pathetic old Timur trailing along, than Calaf is back at the business of pursuing Turandot. Liu who? He quickly gets a lip-lock on, and the princess suddenly discovers she has a heart after all. It's happy-ever-after time. But is anyone really the wiser, let alone less selfish? The finale should provide a sense that the personal failings of Turandot and Calaf have been redeemed. Instead, the clincher is too hollow, too pat. One kiss and it's all over but the singing. But is this shortcoming enough to keep the opera from being a masterpiece? Of course not. In an inspired performance, the audience will buy the chain of events, the strange nature of the assorted personalities. Better yet, if a production were to go back to the final scene as originally prepared by Puccini's stand-in, there might be an even better chance of rounding out the opera.

Another composer's ending Giacomo Puccini: Biography - Classic Cat Giacomo Puccini 22 dec 1858 (Lucca) - 29 nov 1924 (Brussels) Buy sheetmusic from Puccini at SheetMusicPlus Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒakomo putʃː'ini] ; 22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas , including La bohème , Tosca , Madama Butterfly , and Turandot , are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire . [1] [2] Some of his arias, such as " O mio babbino caro " from Gianni Schicchi , "Che gelida manina" from La bohème, and " Nessun dorma " from Turandot, have become part of popular culture.

Contents Puccini's birthplace, seen in 1984 Statue of Puccini in front of his birthplace Puccini was born in Lucca in Tuscany , into a family with five generations of musical history behind them, including composer Domenico Puccini . His father died when Giacomo was five years old, and he was sent to study with his uncle Fortunato Magi, who considered him to be a poor and undisciplined student. Magi may have been prejudiced against his nephew because his contract as choir master stipulated that he would hand over the position to Puccini "as soon as the said Signore Giacomo be old enough to discharge such duties." Puccini took the position of church organist and choir master in Lucca, but it was not until he saw a performance of Verdi 's Aida that he became inspired to be an opera composer. He and his brother, Michele, walked 18.5 mi (30 km) to see the performance in Pisa .

In 1880, with the help of a relative and a grant, Puccini enrolled in the Milan Conservatory to study composition with Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti , Amilcare Ponchielli , and Antonio Bazzini . In the same year, at the age of 21, he composed the Messa, which marks the culmination of his family's long association with church music in his native Lucca. Although Puccini himself correctly titled the work a Messa, referring to a setting of the Ordinary of the Catholic Mass, today the work is popularly known as his Messa di Gloria , a name that technically refers to a setting of only the first two prayers of the Ordinary, the Kyrie and the Gloria , while omitting the Credo , the Sanctus , and the Agnus Dei . The work anticipates Puccini's career as an operatic composer by offering glimpses of the dramatic power that he would soon bring forth onto the stage; the powerful "arias" for tenor and bass soloists are certainly more operatic than is usual in church music and, in its orchestration and dramatic power, the Messa compares interestingly with Verdi's Requiem .

While studying at the Conservatory, Puccini obtained a libretto from Ferdinando Fontana and entered a competition for a one-act opera in 1882. Although he did not win, Le Villi was later staged in 1884 at the Teatro Dal Verme and it caught the attention of Giulio Ricordi , head of G. Ricordi & Co. music publishers, who commissioned a second opera, Edgar , in 1889. Edgar failed: it was a bad story and Fontana's libretto was poor. This may have had an effect on Puccini's thinking because when he began his next opera Manon Lescaut he announced that he would write his own libretto so that "no fool of a librettist" [3] could spoil it for him. Ricordi persuaded him to accept Leoncavallo as his librettist, but Puccini soon asked Ricordi to remove him from the project. Four other librettists were then involved with the opera, due mainly to Puccini constantly changing his mind about the structure of the piece.

It was almost by accident that the final two, Illica and Giacosa, came together to complete the opera and they remained with Puccini for his next three operas and probably his greatest successes La Boheme, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. It may well have been the failure of Edgar that made Puccini so apt to change his mind. Edgar nearly cost him his career: Puccini had eloped with the married Elvira Gemignani and Ricordi's associates were willing to turn a blind eye to his life style as long as he was successful. When Edgar failed, they suggested to Ricordi that he should drop Puccini, but Ricordi said that he would stay with him and made him an allowance from his own pocket until his next opera. Manon Lescaut was a great success and Puccini went on to become the leading operatic composer of his day.

Puccini at Torre del Lago Original poster for Puccini's Tosca From 1891 onwards, Puccini spent most of his time at Torre del Lago , a small community about fifteen miles from Lucca situated between the Liguarian Sea and Lake Massaciuccoli, just south of Viareggio . While renting a house there, he spent time hunting but regularly visited Lucca. By 1900 he had acquired land and built a villa on the lake, now known as the "Villa Museo Puccini." He lived there until 1921 when pollution produced by peat works on the lake forced him to move to Viareggio, a few kilometres north. After his death, a mausoleum was created in the Villa Puccini and the composer is buried there in the chapel , along with his wife and son who died later. The "Villa Museo Puccini" is presently owned by his granddaughter, Simonetta Puccini, and is open to the public. Operas written at Torre del Lago Manon Lescaut (1893), his third opera, was his first great success.

It launched his remarkable relationship with the librettists Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa , who collaborated with him on his next three operas, which became his three most famous and most-performed operas. These were: La bohème (1896) is considered one of his best works as well as one of the most romantic operas ever composed. It is together with Tosca one of today's most popular operas. Tosca (1900) was arguably Puccini's first foray into verismo , the realistic depiction of many facets of real life including violence. The opera is generally considered of major importance in the history of opera because of its many significant features. Madama Butterfly (1904) was initially greeted with great hostility (mostly organized by his rivals) but, after some reworking, became another of his most successful operas. After 1904, compositions were less frequent. Following his passion for driving fast cars, Puccini was nearly killed in a major accident in 1903.

In 1906 Giacosa died and, in 1909, there was scandal after Puccini's wife, Elvira, falsely accused their maid Doria Manfredi of having an affair with Puccini. The maid then committed suicide . Elvira was successfully sued by the Manfredis, and Giacomo had to pay damages. Finally, in 1912, the death of Giulio Ricordi, Puccini's editor and publisher, ended a productive period of his career. However, Puccini completed La fanciulla del West in 1910 and finished the score of La rondine in 1916. In 1918, Il trittico premiered in New York. This work is composed of three one-act operas: a horrific episode ( Il tabarro ), in the style of the Parisian Grand Guignol , a sentimental tragedy ( Suor Angelica ), and a comedy ( Gianni Schicchi ). Of the three, Gianni Schicchi has remained the most popular, containing the popular aria " O mio babbino caro ".

Final years Giacomo Puccini with conductor Arturo Toscanini Puccini's last house in Brussels A habitual Toscano cigar and cigarette chain smoker, Puccini began to complain of chronic sore throats towards the end of 1923. A diagnosis of throat cancer led his doctors to recommend a new and experimental radiation therapy treatment, which was being offered in Brussels . Puccini and his wife never knew how serious the cancer was, as the news was only revealed to his son. Puccini died there on 29 November 1924, from complications after the treatment; uncontrolled bleeding led to a heart attack the day after surgery. News of his death reached Rome during a performance of La bohème. The opera was immediately stopped, and the orchestra played Chopin 's Funeral March for the stunned audience. He was buried in Milan , in Toscanini's family tomb, but that was always intended as a temporary measure. In 1926 his son arranged for the transfer of his father's remains to a specially created chapel inside the Puccini villa at Torre del Lago.

Turandot , his final opera, was left unfinished, and the last two scenes were completed by Franco Alfano based on the composer's sketches. Some dispute whether Alfano followed the sketches or not, since the sketches were said to be indecipherable, but he is believed to have done so, since, together with the autographs, he was given (still existing) transcriptions from Guido Zuccoli who was accustomed to interpreting Puccini's handiwork. When Arturo Toscanini conducted the premiere performance in April 1926 (in front of a sold-out crowd, with every prominent Italian except for Benito Mussolini in attendance), he chose not to perform Alfano's portion of the score. The performance reached the point where Puccini had completed the score, at which time Toscanini stopped the orchestra.

The conductor turned to the audience and said: "Here the opera finishes, because at this point the Maestro died." (Some record that he said, more poetically, "Here the Maestro laid down his pen.") (Some record that then Toscanini picked up the baton, turned to the audience, and announced, "But his disciples finished his work." At which time the opera closed to thunderous applause.) Toscanini's laying down the baton has been misinterpreted by some journalists as a gesture of disapproval of Alfano's contribution. Recently, one told his readers with great authority that "Toscanini never conducted Turandot again."[ citation needed ]In fact, he conducted it again on the two following nights - including Alfano's ending - a total of three performances. Toscanini edited Alfano's suggested completion ('Alfano I'), to produce a version now known as 'Alfano II', and this is the version usually used in performance. However, some musicians [4] consider Alfano I to be a more dramatically complete version.

In 2002, an official new ending was composed by Luciano Berio from original sketches, but this finale has, to date, been performed only infrequently. Politics Unlike Verdi and Wagner , Puccini did not appear to be active in the politics of his day. However, Mussolini, Fascist dictator of Italy at the time, claimed that Puccini applied for admission to the National Fascist Party . While it has been proven that Puccini was indeed among the early supporters of the Fascist party at the time of the election campaign of 1919 (in which the Fascist candidates were utterly defeated, earning a meagre 4,000 votes), there appear to be no records or proof of any application given to the party by Puccini. In addition, it can be noted that had Puccini done so, his close friend Toscanini (an extreme anti-Fascist) would probably have severed all friendly connection with him and ceased conducting his operas.

This notwithstanding, Fascist propaganda appropriated Puccini's figure, and one of the most widely played marches during Fascist street parades and public ceremonies was the "Inno a Roma" (Hymn to Rome), composed in 1919 by Puccini to lyrics by Fausto Salvatori, based on these verses from Horace 's Carmen saeculare : Alme Sol, curru nitido diem qui / Promis et celas alius que et idem / Nasceris, possis nihil urbe Roma / Visere maius. (O Sun, that unchanged, yet ever new, / Lead'st out the day and bring'st it home, / May nothing be present to thy view / Greater than Rome!) Style Puccini photographed in 1908 The subject of Puccini's style is one that was once treated dismissively by musicologists ; this can be attributed to a perception that his work, with its emphasis on melody and evident popular appeal, lacked "depth." Comments, however, have been contradictory with some critics telling us that it was only his theatrical flair that made him successful while others have said that he was never a great theatrical composer.

The answer to this determined antipathy may well be that there have always been critics who resent a composer who becomes popular. Despite the place Puccini clearly occupies in the popular tradition of Verdi, his style of orchestration also shows the strong influence of Wagner , matching specific orchestral configurations and timbres to different dramatic moments. His operas contain an unparalleled manipulation of orchestral colors, with the orchestra often creating the scene's atmosphere. The structures of Puccini's works are also noteworthy. While it is to an extent possible to divide his operas into arias or numbers (like Verdi's), his scores generally present a very strong sense of continuous flow and connectivity, perhaps another sign of Wagner's influence. Like Wagner, Puccini used leitmotifs to connote characters and sentiments (or combinations thereof).

This is most apparent in Tosca, where the three chords which signal the beginning of the opera are used throughout to announce Scarpia; the descending brass motive (Vivacissimo con violenza) is connected to the repressive regime which ruled Rome at the setting of the opera and most clearly to Angelotti, one of the regime's victims; the harp arpeggio figure which appears at Tosca's entrance and the aria Vissi d'arte symbolizing Tosca's religious fervor; the clarinet ascending-descending scale indicating Mario's suffering and his doomed love for Tosca. Several motifs are also linked to Mimi and the bohemians in La bohème and to Cio-Cio-San's eventual suicide in Butterfly. Unlike Wagner, though, Puccini's motifs are static: where Wagner's motifs develop into more complicated figures as the characters develop, Puccini's remain more or less identical throughout the opera (in this respect anticipating the themes of modern musical theatre ). Another distinctive quality in Puccini's works is the use of the voice in the style of speech i.e. canto parlando; characters sing short phrases one after another as if they were in conversation.

Puccini is also celebrated for his melodic gift and many of his melodies are both memorable and enduringly popular. At their simplest these melodies are made of sequences from the scale, a very distinctive example being Quando me'n vo' (Musetta's Waltz) from La bohème and E lucevan le stelle from Act III of Tosca. Today, it is rare not to find at least one Puccini aria included in an operatic singer's CD album or recital. Unusual for operas written by Italian composers up until that time, many of Puccini’s operas are set outside Italy—in exotic places such as Japan (Madama Butterfly), gold-mining country in California (La fanciulla del West), Paris and the Riviera (La rondine), and China (Turandot). Pulitzer Prize -winning music critic Lloyd Schwartz summarized Puccini thus: "Is it possible for a work of art to seem both completely sincere in its intentions and at the same time counterfeit and manipulative? Puccini built a major career on these contradictions. But people care about him, even admire him, because he did it both so shamelessly and so skillfully.

How can you complain about a composer whose music is so relentlessly memorable, even — maybe especially — at its most saccharine?" [5] Music Although Puccini is mainly known for his operas, he also wrote some other orchestral pieces, sacred music, chamber music and songs for voice and piano.

Operas Le Villi , libretto by Ferdinando Fontana (in one act – premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme , 31 May 1884) second version (in two acts – premiered at the Teatro Regio of Torino, 26 December 1884) third version (in two acts – premiered at La Scala (the Teatro alla Scala), 24 January 1885) fourth version (in two acts – premiered at the Teatro dal Verme, 7 November 1889) Edgar , libretto by Ferdinando Fontana (in four acts – premiered at La Scala, 21 April 1889) second version (in four acts – premiered at the Teatro del Giglio, 5 September 1891) third version (in three acts – premiered at the Teatro Comunale, 28 January 1892) fourth version (in three acts – premiered at the Teatro Colón di Buenos Aires, 8 July 1905) Manon Lescaut , libretto by Luigi Illica , Marco Praga and Domenico Oliva (premier

ed at the Teatro Regio, 1 February 1893) second version (premiered at the Teatro Coccia, 21 December 1893) La bohème , libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa (premiered at the Teatro Regio of Torino, 1 February 1896) Tosca , libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa (premiered at the Teatro Costanzi, 14 January 1900) Madama Butterfly , libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa (in two acts – premiered at La Scala, 17 February 1904) second version (in two acts – premiered at the Teatro Grande di Brescia, 28 May 1904) third version (premiered at Covent Garden , London 10 July 1905) fourth version (premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, 28 December 1906) fifth version (premiered at the Teatro Carcano, 9 December 192

0) La fanciulla del West , libretto by Guelfo Civinini and Carlo Zangarini (premiered at the Metropolitan Opera , 10 December 1910) second version (premiered at La Scala, 29 December 1912) La rondine , libretto by Giuseppe Adami (premiered at the Opéra of Monte Carlo, 27 March 1917) second version (premiered at the Opéra of Monte Carlo, 10 April 1920) third version (possible premier at the Teatro Verdi, 11 April 1924); orchestration of the third act completed in 1994 by Lorenzo Ferrero (premiered at Teatro Regio di Torino , 22 March 1994) Il trittico (premiered at the Metropolitan Opera, 14 December 1918) Requiem (27 January 1905, Milan) Casa mia, casa mia (1908) Sogno d'or (1913) Pezzo per pianof

orte (1916) Morire?

(c.1917) - This song was transposed by a half step (into G-flat major) and set to different text in the 1st revision of his work La Rondine called "Parigi è la città dei desideri" which is sung by Ruggero in the 1st act. Besides the key and text changes, it is the exact music to the aria. Inno a Roma (1 June 1919, Rome) Centres for Puccini Studies Founded in 1996 in Lucca, the Centro Studi Giacomo Puccini embraces a wide range of approaches to the study of Puccini's work. In the USA, the American Center for Puccini Studies specializes in the presentation of unusual performing editions of composer's works and introduces many neglected or unknown Puccini pieces to the music loving public. It was founded in 2004 by a leading Puccini artist and scholar, Dr. Harry Dunstan. Detailed information about both organizations exists on their websites.

Samples PUCCINI, G.: Ultimate Opera Album (The) The Ultimate Puccini Opera Album Descended from a family of musicians, Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) was the most important Italian opera composer in the generation after Verdi. He began his career as a composer of opera with Le Villi, based on the story familiar from Adam’s ballet Giselle, but first won significant success in 1893 with Manon Lescaut. A musical dramatist of considerable power, he wrote in all twelve operas, the last, Turandot, unfinished at the time of his death in 1924. Music critics sometimes accuse his music of lacking ‘depth’, but performers and audiences the world over have resoundingly rejected this claim (born, more often than not, of simple musical snobbery based on the false notion that what is very popular could hardly be considered very good). Even a glimpse at any of his operatic scores proves, instead, that Puccini had that rarest of gifts, the ability to compose utterly compelling music for the stage.

It has also been noted that most of his heroines fail to reach the final curtain alive, which is, indeed, true. From the operas featured on The Ultimate Puccini Opera Album only Magda from La Rondine, Lauretta from Gianni Schicchi and Turandot survive. Cio-cio San (Madama Butterfly) commits suicide, having been abandoned by her ‘husband’ Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton who then marries ‘a real American wife’ and returns with her to claim his half-Japanese child. The seamstress Mimi (La Bohème) dies of consumption (tuberculosis). The slave Liù (Turandot) kills herself after having been tortured. Manon Lescaut perishes on the ‘vast plain’ beyond New Orleans having fled from France to the United States with her lover the Chevalier des Grieux. The opera singer Floria Tosca flings herself from the top of the Castello Sant’Angelo in Rome after her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi, has been executed by the evil chief of police Baron Scarpia.

Anna (Le Villi) dies waiting for the return of her lover Roberto, who has been seduced by fairies. Sister Angelica takes poison after her aunt reveals that her illegitimate young son has died. Are these cases of musical misogyny or even sadistic sexism, as some have claimed? Puccini’s operas were composed at a time when the civic and legal restrictions on women were being contested: the right to vote, the right to work, and to equal status with men in many other respects were hot topics that could possibly account for a ‘patriarchal backlash’ on the operatic stage. Puccini himself has been called an old school chauvinist who as both a man and an artist felt entitled to any number of romantic liaisons, and there’s truth in that. But the artist’s life is not the same as the artist’s work, so it’s worth reconsidering those fateful heroines, each of which can also be seen in a more heroic light.

In the final version of La Rondine Magda renounces her true love Ruggero because as a former actress and kept woman she feels unworthy of him (in an earlier version, Magda drowns herself when her past is revealed). Cio-cio San prefers to die with honour than live without it, like her father, who had committed hara-kiri on the emperor’s orders. Mimi dies in her lover Rodolfo’s arms, having been ‘abandoned’ by him (he is too poor to pay for the medical treatment she needs) and subsequently taken up with a wealthy viscount, only to have been found wandering the streets of Paris in her near-final delirium. Manon perishes recalling her past and musing about her fatal beauty; Puccini noted that ‘Manon is a heroine I believe in and therefore she cannot fail to win the hearts of the public’. Tosca leaps to her death rather than be captured by the Baron Scarpia’s soldiers, having earlier murdered the police chief when he tried to rape her.

Anna, having herself become a willi (the spirit of a woman who dies for love), has her revenge on the faithless Roberto by joining her jilted sisters as they dance Roberto to death. Liù stabs herself rather than reveal Prince Calaf’s name to Turandot. Sister Angelica’s suicide, which she believes will sentence her to eternal damnation, is forgiven by the Blessed Virgin Mary (a mother who herself has suffered much) and the repentant nun is blissfully reunited with her dead child. In each case, Puccini’s doomed heroines defy their melodramatic fate although they usually fail to escape its grasp, while the men at whose hands they have suffered scarcely do better, either dying themselves or surviving to repent the grave wrong they have done (a fate worse than death?) or regretting the rigid social conventions that make their love impossible. Lauretta gets to marry her handsome Rinuccio (but Gianni Schicci is a comedy, so a happy ending is expected) and Turandot’s icy resistence melts under the heat of Calaf’s passionate kiss as she declares that she has discovered his true name, ‘Love’ (but Turandot is a fairy tale, after all).

However one chooses to analyse the ‘gendered politics’ of Puccini’s heroines, these are hardly frail creatures who live and die passively for love. But as tragic characters whose fates are inescapable, they win our hearts as fully human creations whose feelings are revealed to us by Puccini’s ravishing music. Giacomo Puccini | Minnesota Opera Giacomo Puccini Latest News on Giacomo Puccini b Lucca, December 22, 1858; d Brussels, November 29, 1924 Giacomo Puccini was born into a family of court composers and organists in the historic city of Lucca, Italy. With a strong feeling of tradition in the Puccini family, it was expected that Giacomo would assume his deceased father's position as Maestro di Cappella when he came of age. By 14 he already was playing organ in a number of the town's churches. Albina Magi, the composer's mother, also came from a family of musicians. Her brother, Fortunato, became her son's first music teacher.

His uncle was a strict instructor and was known to kick Puccini when he made mistakes. For his part, Puccini was unruly, easily bored and preferred to hunt for bird's nests rather than study. Seeing little progress, Albina decided a new teacher was in order and sent the boy to Carlo Angeloni, a former pupil of her husband. Giacomo's attitude and study habits quickly changed. Money was scarce for the family, and to supplement his church earnings Puccini would play piano at the local bars and at houses of "ill repute." He withheld a small percentage of his earnings for cigarettes and began the bad habit of smoking (which ultimately caused his death). As a young man, Puccini was determined to be rich and independent. His teacher introduced him to opera through the study of Verdi's piano scores. Then in 1879, Puccini attended his first opera performance, Aida, and was deeply moved – his destiny was to be a composer for the theater. He knew it was necessary to study in the Italian operatic capital, Milan.

After completing studies at the Pacini Institute of Music in Lucca, Puccini enrolled at the Milan Conservatory in 1880 under the auspices of a royal scholarship. His living expenses were provided by a loan from an uncle but money was always tight. Puccini lived the bohemian life of a poor student and became acquainted with many important musical and literary figures. For a short while, he shared a room with the composer Pietro Mascagni, who became famous for his one-act opera Cavalleria rusticana. To save money, the two of them would cook meals in their room, and as this was strictly forbidden, one would play the piano loudly to drown out the noise of pots and pans. One can see how the composer drew from his own life experiences in the writing of his opera, La bohème. In 1883 at the age of 25, Puccini graduated with a diploma in composition from the Milan Conservatory. His thesis composition, Capriccio sinfonico, was played by the student orchestra and received high praise from influential critics. This was the start of a celebrated career. Puccini was not a prolific composer.

Unlike most of his contemporaries, he produced his operas at long intervals, partly because of his fastidiousness in choosing subjects, several of which he took up only to abandon after several months, and partly because of his constant demands for modifications of the texts. Much of his time, too, was spent in hunting in the marshes around his home and in trips abroad to supervise revivals of his works. The composer's first work for the stage, Le villi, was originally submitted to a contest sponsored by the wealthy music publisher, Edoardo Sonzogno. The one-act opera received not even honorable mention, but Puccini was certain of its merit. He and librettist Ferdinando Fontana began to canvass the opera to the broader circle of the Italian intelligentsia. One of these individuals was the highly influential librettist and composer, Arrigo Boito, who was instrumental in getting Le villi staged. The reception to the new work was mixed, but the revised two-act version was staged in a number of cities outside of Italy (a remarkable feat for such a young composer).

Puccini's next opera, Edgar, however, was a resounding critical failure, yet the astute publisher, Giulio Ricordi, found fault in the libretto only and promise in the music. He pitted himself against the shareholders of his publishing house who demanded that Puccini be released from retainer. Ricordi's confidence was rewarded with Manon Lescaut, Puccini's first true success. In 1884, Puccini became acquainted with Elvira Gemignani who was encouraged by her husband, a pharmacist and former classmate of Puccini's, to take voice lessons with the composer. Shortly after his mother's death, he was joined by Elvira and her daughter, Fosca, in Milan. She left her son, Renato, with her husband. Two years later she gave birth to their only child, Antonio, which caused a great scandal in Puccini's birthplace of Lucca – his family, very conventional and religious, was outraged. He seldom visited that city again in his lifetime.

With the popularity of Manon Lescaut, Puccini was now generally considered by the Italian art circle to be Verdi's successor (even by the great composer himself). As the royalties began rolling in, Puccini began to show a predilection for machines and gadgets, in particular fast automobiles and motor boats. His solitary nature drew him to a purchase a villa near the sea, surrounded by the mountains at Torre del Lago. Through the years, this villa became a home base where he could enjoy his passion for hunting and fishing, along with the nature and silence of the surroundings. During the 1890s, Puccini began working with Luigi Illica, who worked out the scheme and drafted the dialogue, and the poet and playwright Giuseppe Giacosa, who put the lines into verse. Although they had participated on Manon Lescaut (in a string of several librettists) their first true collaboration was La bohème in 1896, followed four years later by Tosca and then Madame Butterfly four years after that. Giacosa died in 1906, putting an end to the successful team that produced three of Puccini's most enduring works.

In 1904, Giacomo and Elvira were finally married legally, following her first husband's death. Their relationship, however, was a constant storm. She was insanely jealous, and a letter, written prior to their union, stated her decision to leave him. Many of her accusations about him were not unfounded. The composer had quite a weakness for women and carried on many extramarital affairs throughout his life. While Puccini was recuperating from an automobile accident, a young girl named Doria Manfredi was hired as a nurse and maid. She remained in the household as the Puccinis' maid. Elvira saw the makings of an affair and immediately discharged her. But that was not enough. She continued her slanderous accusations through the small village, and the townspeople, aware of her husband's past philandering, quite naturally believed her. The innocent girl, totally humiliated, took poison and died after five days of unbearable suffering. Giacomo took refuge in Rome and Elvira fled to Milan. Doria's family sued Elvira following an autopsy that proved Doria's virginity.

Puccini and his wife lived apart for four months while Elvira persisted in defending her legal position. The case was tried and she was sentenced to five months' imprisonment – but Puccini made a large financial settlement with the Manfredi family and the lawsuit was dropped. In September of 1909, Giacomo, Elvira and Antonio were reunited at Torre. A month later he wrote, "In my home I have peace – Elvira is good – and the three of us live happily together." Puccini's later operas were quite varied in their styles and subjects. La fanciulla del West, set in the American West, is notable for its advanced impressionistic orchestration and composition. La rondine was designed to be a musical comedy in the Viennese style but seemed more related to La traviata than to Die Fledermaus.

Il trittico was an evening of one-act operas that are quite a mixed bag: Il tabarro was Puccini's bow toward the verismo style; Suor Angelica is a gripping emotional drama set in a nunnery; Gianni Schicchi is a comic masterpiece that features Puccini at his most exuberant. There is a thought that Puccini was mocking his own success with this piece. At the age of 60, the composer set out to write an opera that was atypical of his past style. He studied the developments in contemporary music and based the new work on Count Carlo Gozzi's fable about the cruel Chinese princess Turandot. The completion of the work was cut short due to his ill-health. Puccini had been dealing with a persistent cough for months. He began complaining of stinging sore throats and his diagnosis revealed cancer of the throat. He traveled to Brussels to receive radium therapy, accompanied by his son and stepdaughter – Elvira had bronchitis and remained in Milan. Radioactive needles were inserted into the tumor. Initially, the doctor was optimistic, but four days later, the composer suffered a heart attack.

Puccini died on November 29, 1924 and his remains are now entombed in the chapel of his villa at Torre. Although Turandot was left unfinished, the conductor Arturo Toscanini entrusted its completion to another Ricordi composer, Franco Alfano. In 1926, the opera premiered under the baton of Toscanini. Out of respect for the composer, the maestro stopped where Puccini had written his last notes. He turned to the audience and emotionally said, "At this point the master laid down his pen." Puccini has been much maligned for his flirtation with popular music, but he had an uncanny feel for a good story and talent for enthralling yet economical music. His experiments with tonality and form, while constant, were always subtle, and unlike his contemporary Stravinsky, he did not seem to need to be controversial. His melodies are mostly simple stepwise vocal lines, yet with them he managed to create arias of astonishing beauty. The use of orchestra is economical and to the point – few operas of his have overtures and Puccini often captures the right dramatic moments with just a splash of colorful chords.

Though his personal life was plagued with self-doubt and laborious perfectionism, Puccini profoundly influenced the world of opera with a deep understanding of music, drama and humanity. What’s Happening Giacomo Puccini - Florentine Opera Company | Milwaukee, WIFlorentine Opera Company | Milwaukee, WI Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (DECEMBER 22, 1858 – NOVEMBER 29, 1924) Puccini was born in Lucca, Italy, a member of a large family with a five-generation lineage of musicians going back to the early 18th century. His first job, at age 14, was as an organist to the two churches of Lucca, but he quickly became more interested in opera than church music. A performance of Verdi’s Aida at Pisa in 1876 made such an impact on him that he decided to follow his heart and began to pursue operatic composition. With a scholarship and financial support from a wealthy uncle, he was able to enter the Milan Conservatory in 1880.

While in Milan, he came into contact with a group of Milanese artists, called the Scapigliati, who lived the Bohemian lifestyle. Puccini wrote his first opera, Le villi, a “dramatic legend” about mythical, vampire-like creatures found in Italian mythology, in 1884. It was successful, and opened at the La Scala in Milan the next year. His second opera, Edgar, was a less well-received, but his third, Manon Lescaut, was celebrated, and established him on the international operatic scene. Around this time, the composer met Elvira Gemignani, wife of a merchant in Lucca. They carried on an illicit affair, and she gave birth to his son in 1886. Eventually, the two married following the death of her first husband. She is said to have been an unfit partner for Puccini, limiting his intellectual pursuits, controlling him emotionally, and ferociously cutting him off from most personal relationships with friends and other artists. His next opera, La Bohème was at first less successful than Manon Lescaut, although it later went on to grow in fame.

After producing Tosca and Madama Butterfly, Puccini was embroiled in a domestic scandel in 1909 that resulted in a court case and large amounts of negative publicity. Puccini’s jealous wife accused him of having had an intimate affair with his servant girl, Doria. Eventually the girl herself committed suicide in 1909 as a result. Today, scholars are still intrigued by the affair and work to prove or disprove Puccini’s innocence. Consensus indicates that it was most likely a fabrication of his wife. The experience took its toll on the very sensitive composer, and its deep psychological effects were a main factor in the long period before he began work on his next opera. In the single decade before his death, Puccini completed La Rondine, and the trilogy of Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. His final opera, the lavish fairy tale Turandot, was unfinished at his death in 1924, but was completed by his colleague Franco Alfano and premiered in 1926. It remains one of his most admired works.

During its composition, he moved to Viareggio and in 1923, he developed cancer of the throat. Although he sought treatment at a Brussels clinic, his heart could not stand the strain and he died on November 29, 1924. All Italy went into mourning and two years later, his remains were interred at his house at Torre del Lago. After his wife’s death in 1930, the house was turned into a museum where fans from around the world could come to celebrate one of opera’s greatest composers. Giacomo Puccini - Turandot HQ - YouTube Giacomo Puccini - Turandot HQ Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Published on Aug 4, 2016 Turandot (UK /ˈtjʊər.ən.dɒt/ or US /ˈtʊr.ən.dɑːt/; Italian pronunciation: [turanˈdɔt]; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, completed by Franco Alfano, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's 1801 adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot by Carlo Gozzi. The original story is based on Turan-Dokht (daughter of Turan) from the epic Haft Peykar (The Seven Beauties), work of 12th-century Persian poet Nizami.[1] The opera's story is set in China and involves Prince Calaf, who falls in love with the cold Princess Turandot. To obtain permission to marry her, a suitor has to solve three riddles; any wrong answer results in death.

Calaf passes the test, but Turandot still refuses to marry him. He offers her a way out: if she is able to learn his name before dawn the next day, then at daybreak he will die. The opera was unfinished at the time of Puccini's death in 1924, and was completed by Franco Alfano in 1926. The first performance was held at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 25 April 1926 and conducted by Arturo Toscanini. This performance included only Puccini's music and not Alfano's additions. The first performance of the opera as completed by Alfano was the following night, 26 April, although it is disputed whether this was conducted by Toscanini again or by Ettore Panizza.(Wikipedia) Brani Michael McCooe: Composer Puccini - Michael McCooe Michael McCooe by Michael McCooe Family roots Giacomo Puccini’s family were always involved in music ; his great grandfather played the organ at a cathedral in his hometown, Lucca. This role was passed down to his grandfather, followed by his father.

The role was due to be passed down to Giacomo, but his father, Michele, sadly died when he was just six years old – Giacomo was, of course, too young. Michele was a popular composer and his funeral was an occasion of public mourning in 1864. Sadly, this ended the 124-year Puccini occupation of the role at the cathedral too. Career Puccini studied in Milan and in the beginning of his career, started as an organist like his family before him. But he started to sing opera as part of a choir and found his abilities in classical opera. As Puccini started to perform on his own, he focused on romantic Italian opera which was popular at the time. From there, he developed a verismo style which he has since became renowned for. Work including La bohème, which to this day remains one of the most frequently performed operas ever to be written, and propelled Puccini into global recognition. He also produced Tosca in 1900, which you can listen to on my SoundCloud profile .

Later years A car accident in 1903 halted Puccini’s progress and slowed the completion of his next work, Madama Butterfly. He badly injured his right leg and contracted diabetes, being forced to make several revisions to the works which he was trying to complete. He still went on to produce La fanciulla del West, La rondine, Il trittico and his final opera, Turandot, which was left unfinished at his death. Puccini’s overall work from the late 19th Century to his death in 1924 includes some of the most important operas played as standards in history. Puccini died from throat cancer in 1924, having been a chain smoker for most of his professional life. He was temporarily buried in Milan, before being moved to a specialist chapel in Torre de Lago. A festival is held each year in Italy to celebrate Puccini’s life and works. You can listen to some of my favourite classics on my Michael McCooe SoundCloud profile , which is updated on a regular basis.

Puccini: La Bohème: Puccini biography Return to Index Page Giacomo Puccini (1856-1924): Brief Biography Puccini was born in Lucca (Italy), a member of a large family of musicians going back to the early 18th century. His first job, at age 14, was as organist to the two churches of Lucca; but he quickly became more interested in opera (especially Verdi) than church music. He studied at the musical conservatory in Milan (1880-83), and there he came into contact with a group of Milanese artists, called the Scapigliati, who lived the Bohemian lifestyle. This group included the great librettist Arrigo Boito (himself a composer whose opera Mefistofele is still popular today). Puccini wrote his first opera, Le villi (willi were vampire-like witches in East-European legend), a "dramatic legend," in 1884. It was successful, and was played at the La Scala opera house in Milan the next year.

His second opera, Edgar, a "lyric drama" (1889), was a failure; his third, Manon Lescaut (1893), which story Massenet had set with international acclaim in 1884, was reasonably well received, and most importantly established him on the international operatic scene. (The work begins in Amiens (France), moves to Le Havre, and finishes up in the "Louisiana desert"!) La Bohème (1896) was at first less successful than Manon Lescaut, perhaps because its subject was too realistic, its tone in many places too light-hearted and somewhat sentimental, and was thus compared unfavorably by the critics (see below) to the Romantic-tragic character of Manon. However, it came to be recognized as the masterpiece history now judges it to be. After producing Tosca (1900) and Madama Butterfly (1904) to enormous acclaim, Puccini was embroiled in a domestic crisis and scandalous court case in 1909. Puccini's jealous wife accused him of having had an intimate affair with his servant girl, Doria, who in 1909 committed suicide.

From the autopsy evidence, Doria and Puccini were exonerated, but the experience took its toll on the very sensitive composer. In 1907, he composed The Girl of the Golden West, a very different sort of opera, set in California during the gold rush era, which was successfully premiered at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1910. Soon after this, Puccini began to be criticized by a new generation of Italian composers for his "bourgeois mentality, lack of ideals, and pure commercialism" (New Grove) -- charges which in some quarters still haunt him at the present day. Joseph Kerman, for example, in his book Opera as Drama (1956), spoke of Tosca as "that shabby little shocker." His final opera, the lavish, exotic, fairy-tale Turandot, was unfinished at his death in 1924, but was completed and premiered in 1926, and remains one of his most admired works.

Question: Which Puccini opera remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1924?
Answer: TURANDOT